The document discusses reasoning, defining it as purposeful, controlled thinking involving cause-and-effect relationships. Reasoning is described as typical thinking that finds new relationships among recalled facts and involves symbolic mental exploration rather than physical exploration. Reasoning is distinguished from trial-and-error behavior and seen as a conative tendency driven by curiosity. Types of reasoning discussed include inductive, deductive, conditioned, and categorical reasoning. The process of reasoning is outlined as gathering data, combining and relating data, seeing implications, and testing conclusions. Strategies are provided for improving students' reasoning skills.

1. Reasoning
Dr Bhavin Chauhan

2. Reasoning: Definitions
• “Reasoning is a stepwise thinking with a purpose or goal in
mind” —Garrett.
• “Reasoning is the term applied to highly purposeful, controlled
and selective thinking”—Gates.
• “Reasoning is the word used to describe the mental recognition
of cause-and-effect relationships, it may be the prediction of an
event from an observed cause or the inference of a cause from
an observed event”—Skinner.

3. Reasoning: Characteristics
Reasoning is Typical Thinking:
• It thinks out a new relationship among the facts previously
observed and recalled at present.
• It is different from thinking of something, because it involves a
series of symbolic activities.
• When you reason, you call up some images, ideas or symbols,
which enable you to respond to absent stimuli.
• Thus, reasoning involves a sequence of symbolic activities
directed towards the solution of a problem, theoretical or
practical.

4. Reasoning: Characteristics
Reasoning is Mental Exploration:
• It finds a new relationship among the data perceived or recalled.
It is a substitute for motor exploration. Suppose, you have lost
your way in a new place. You may explore the different ways by
actual movements. Or you may sit down and think.
• You may explore the novel situation mentally and try to find out
a clue. By following one clue after another you may at last find
out the right way which will lead you to your destination.

5. Reasoning: Characteristics
Reasoning is Different from Trial-and-Error Behaviour:
• First, it does not involve motor exploration. The present
environment is not actually explored in reasoning. Secondly, the
leads to the goal are not always actually observed. They are
recalled from past experience. The clues are not actually
manipulated but thought out for the solution of the problem.

6. Reasoning: Characteristics
Reasoning as a Conative Tendency:
• McDougall holds that reasoning involves a conative tendency, a
desire to know the answer to a question, which may spring from
the instinct of curiosity. The desire selects the relevant material
to facilitate the drawing of the right conclusion. This selectivity
is an important factor of reasoning. It is the essence of
intelligent adaptation.

7. Reasoning: Types
Inductive reasoning:
• It is a specialized thinking aimed at the discovery or
construction of a generalized principle by making use of
particular cases, special examples and identifying of elements or
relations.
• For example, Mohan is mortal, Radha is mortal, Karim is
mortal; therefore, all human beings are mortal.

8. Reasoning: Types
Deductive reasoning:
• It is the ability to draw some logical conclusions from known
statement or evidences. Here one starts with already known or
established generalized statement or principle and applies it to
specific cases. For example, all human beings are mortal you are
a human being, therefore, you are mortal.

9. Reasoning: Types of Deductive
Reasoning
Conditioned reasoning:
• It is the reasoning tied down by some specific condition such as
the following.
• For example, if there is a solar eclipse, the street will be dark.
There is a solar eclipse
• ... The streets are dark.

10. Reasoning: Types of Deductive
Reasoning
Categorical reasoning:
• This type of reasoning is based on some categorical statements.
• For example, all Robins are birds.
• All birds lay eggs.
• ... All Robins lay eggs.

11. Reasoning: Types of Deductive
Reasoning
Linear reasoning:
• This type of reasoning involves straight forward relationships
among elements.
• For example, If Ram is taller than Mohan and Mohan is taller
than Sohan, Ram is the tallest.

12. Process of Reasoning
The process of reasoning contains the following parts:
(a) Gathering the data or facts or judgements.
(b) Combining the data or inter-relating them to one another.
(c) Seeing the implications of the combined data or drawing a
new conclusion from the combined data.
(d) Testing the conclusion so reached.

13. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
• Pose thoughtful or insightful questions and intentionally allow
10–15 seconds of silence to elapse before calling on students to
respond. Cognitive science research has shown that a pause of
this length is necessary for the human brain to sufficiently
process a question and formulate a reasonable response.

14. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
• Work from example to theory. Discuss the examples in the text
first, and then draw out the concepts they teach. This active
learning technique exercises students’ inductive reasoning skills
and promotes active engagement and inquisitiveness.

15. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
• Use critical thinking vocabulary when posing questions to
students to reinforce conceptual understanding and promote
recognition of reasoning. Use the names of the skills and the
habits of mind that are found in the textbook. For example, use
phrases such as: “What is your reason for that claim?” “Let’s
interpret this statement,” “What inferences can we reasonably
draw from these facts?” and “Let’s be systematic in our
analysis.”

16. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
• Acknowledge when students use critical thinking to promote
their self-awareness and recognition of reasoning (don’t forget
to use the critical thinking vocabulary). For example, use
phrases such as: “The claim you are making,” “The
inquisitiveness of this group was evident when,” “I agree with
your interpretation of,” and “In your analysis of.”

17. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
• Avoid sloppy, misleading, and imprecise expressions such as:
“How do you feel about that?” and “What is your view of this?”
and even “What did you think of this?”

18. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
Allow for different learning styles.
• Some children like to jump right in and mess around. Provide
these children with lots of open-ended materials to explore.
Other children are more comfortable watching an activity and
asking questions. Make sure there's plenty of time for them to
discuss what's happening.

19. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
Stimulate children's curiosity and thinking skills.
Offer a range of intriguing manipulatives. For example, ask
children to compare colored rods by size and string beads to
create patterns. Point out cause-and-effect relationships. As they
add an egg to flour during cooking experiments, ask, "What might
happen next?" Use open-ended questions to support estimating
and predicting.

20. Improving Reasoning Skills in Sts.
Offer thinking challenges throughout the day.
• As children put away blocks and books during cleanup time,
encourage them to classify objects. Invite them to compare
quantities while playing in their classroom grocery store.

21. Remember…
•Nothing changes until you change.